RE Curriculum Overview Year Term RE Vocab Key Learning group A religion is a group of people with the same belief Religion, Worship, There are lots of religions in the world Year 1 Autumn 1 Christianity Christianity, Christian, Bible, Religions have special places and items Church, Sacred, Belief. I can begin to explain why the Bible is important in Christianity Some Christians pray and worship in Churches on Sunday, the Christian holy day Christians have one God, who they believe created the world in just six days and continues to watch over it Christians believe that God is everywhere and sees and knows everything Christians believe that Jesus was the son of God, sent down to earth to save people and teach them about God Christians believe that praying to God allows them to say sorry for the things they have done wrong and thank Altar, Pews, Aisle, Cross, Year 1 Autumn 2 Christianity you for their blessings, to pray for other people (for example, for healing) and to pray for his help and strength Stained Glass Windows, for themselves The Nativity Story describes the birth of Jesus Christ Advent is the season before Christmas during which Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus using candles, calendars and wreaths On Christmas Day, Christians exchange gifts (to symbolise Jesus as a gift to mankind) and some go to Church The place of worship for Jewish people is the synagogue, which means ‘meeting place’ in Greek Synagogues are used for worship, which can also happen in other places, meetings and teaching of the Torah Hanukkah celebrates the victory of the Maccabees and that the menorah burned for 8 days and nights without oil Religion, Worship, Judaism, At Hanukkah, Jewish people light candles, exchange presents and children play a game with a little spinning top Year 1 Spring 1 Judaism Jewish, Synagogue, Rabbi, called a dreidel Shabbat, Hanukkah, Menorah Shabbat is the most important day of the week for Jews, because it is a day on which they remember that God created the world and everything in it Shabbat (Saturday) is the day of rest and many tasks are forbidden for strict Jews, including working, driving and doing homework Jews believe that God made an agreement with the Jewish people that they should belong to each other Jewish people read the Torah and follow its laws to keep their promise to God Praying is very important to Jewish people Christianity and Judaism are two different religions but they share some beliefs Jews worship in a synagogue, and Christians worship in a church Torah, Rabbi, Menorah, Star The biggest difference between a synagogue and a church is that Jews do not believe that the synagogue is a holy Year 1 Spring 2 Judaism of David, Scroll, Parchment, place Yas, Mitzvut, Kosher As they are not considered to be holy places just for worship, synagogues are very plain compared to churches The Torah is written in Hebrew on scrolls of parchment It is forbidden to touch the Torah when reading it so a special stick, called a yad, is used to point The rules in the Torah are called the mitzvot and they guide Jewish people on how to live, including telling them to give money to charity and foods that they may or may not eat People living in a similar area may follow different religions Lots of people share the same religion as their parents and family but some people change their religion The mosque is the building where Muslims go to worship Mosques are often large buildings with beautiful towers and domes Outside most mosques is a tall tower, called a minaret. In some mosques this is where a crier or muezzin calls Islam, Muslim, Qur’an, Imam, Year 1 Summer 1 Islam Muslims to prayer from Wudu, Minaret, Ritual Every mosque must also have running water as Muslims must wash their face, hands and feet before they pray (Wudu) Muslim people follow many laws and customs outlined in the Qu'ran The Qur'an is treated with immense respect by Muslims because it is the sacred word of God While the Qur'an is recited aloud, Muslims should behave with reverence Muslims believe that there is only one God, called Allah Muslims believe that Allah sent many prophets to Earth to give his message. A prophet is someone who speaks for God on Earth For Muslims, a man called Muhammad was the final prophet of Allah. He was responsible for starting the faith of Islam and is referred to as the Messenger of God or the Prophet. Allah, Muhammad, Eid al- Year 1 Summer 2 Islam Eid means festival in Arabic and the two main festivals in Islam are Eid al-Fitr (Festival of the Breaking of the Fitr, Ramadan, Prophet. Fast) and Eid ul-Adha (the Festival of Sacrifice) The end of Ramadan is marked by the festival of Eid al-Fitr. It is a time when friends and family get together and worship at the mosque, good food is eaten, children are given presents and money is given to charity In Islam, mistreating an animal is considered a sin. According to the Qu'ran, all animals should be treated with kindness and mercy Sikh temples, called gurdwaras, are built with a large central dome. They have four doors to show that they are open to all people. There are no pictures or statues in the gurdwara Before Sikhs go to worship at the gurdwara, they must take a bath. To show their respect to God, shoes are removed before they enter and people cover their heads Sikhism, Sikh, Guru Granth The Guru Granth Sahib is the name of the Sikh Holy Book. It consists of writings by all 10 Gurus as well as those Year 2 Autumn 1 Sikhism Sahib, Gurdwara, Langar. from other Sikh, Hindu and Muslim holy men The Guru Granth Sahib is the only major religious book that contains writings by teachers of other faiths Sikhs believe in one God who guides and protects them Sikhs see everybody as an equal. Leading a good life, doing good things and making the right choices are an important part of the Sikh faith Monotheism is the belief in only one god Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Sikhism are all monotheistic religions Sikhism, Sikh, Guru Nanak, Polytheism is the belief in more than one god Guru Granth Sahib, Gurdwara, Year 2 Autumn 2 Sikhism Hinduism and Buddhism are polytheistic religions, as well as ancient civilisations such as the Ancient Greeks, Langar, Vaisakhi, Kirtan, Romans and Mayans Monotheism, Polytheism. Sacred music, Kirtan, means “singing the praises of God” The most important Sikh festival, Vaisakhi, marks the Sikh New Year and involves music, dancing and sport The building where Hindus worship is called a mandir As well as visiting temples, Hindus worship God in their own homes and most houses have either a room or corner in which there is a family shrine Hindu temples look very different depending on where they are in the world, but they always have an orange flag outside Hindus believe in one supreme God who created everything and contains every characteristic in the universe Hinduism, Hindu, Puja, The supreme God is made up of many different gods who can take the form of humans or animals. Each has Year 2 Spring 1 Hinduism Mandir, Diwali, Shrine, Rama, different powers and Hindus choose specific gods to worship in specific situations and areas of the world Sita, Ravana. All Hindus believe that life, death and rebirth are a continuous process that we are all part of Hindus believe that all living things have souls, which is why very committed Hindus are vegetarians Hindus believe that certain rivers (like the river Ganges) are sacred and have the power to wash away sins (actions that are wrong in the eyes of God) Cows are considered to be sacred animals among Hindus because they produce milk for people The moral of Rama and Sita is that good triumphs over evil The Vedas are the four holiest books of the Hindu religion They are believed to be one of the oldest books ever made by mankind. They are written in an old Indian language called Sanskrit. They have words (called mantras), which are chanted at the religious ceremonies Diwali is celebrated around the world by Hindus and Sikhs (and Jains) and is an important date in the religious calendar Diwali, or the Festival of Lights, is held in September or October and marks the Hindu new year Hindus celebrate this holiday as the beginning of the year by getting rid of the old and ushering in the new; this is seen by people cleaning their houses as well as people wearing new colorful clothing People spend lots of time praying to the goddess of wealth, prosperity and light (Lakshmi) for the beginnings of Vedas, Mantra, Diwali, Diyas, an excellent year Year 2 Spring 2 Hinduism Bandi Chhorh Divas, Lakshmi. In every house and temple, oil lamps are lit as well as floated down rivers to welcome the Lakshmi. Fireworks are also let off to ward off any evil spirits Sikhs also celebrate on the day of Diwali but for different reasons For all religions that celebrate Diwali, it represents light overcoming darkness, though it has slightly different meanings in each group Sikhs are not actually celebrating Diwali, they are celebrating Bandi Chhorh Divas, which means ‘Prisoner Release Day’ which happens to be at the same time of year as Diwali, so the two are joined together At this time, they remember the story of the Guru and the Princes The moral of the Guru and the Princes is that people should stand up for fairness and what is right Sikhs celebrated the return of Guru Hargobind at the end of the story by lighting the Golden Temple in Amritsar and this tradition continues today Buddhists do not believe in a God who created the world and everything in it The word ‘Buddha’ means the ‘enlightened one’, ‘the one who knows’ In Buddhist countries, there are many temples where people can make offerings of flowers and incense for Buddha and give food for the monks Temples exist in all Buddhist countries but Buddhists can worship in a temple, at home and in monasteries Some Buddhists have a shrine in their own home with a small statue of Buddha Buddhism's main sacred text is the Tipitaka (it means three baskets and was first written on palm leaves Buddhism, Buddhist, Buddha, collected in baskets).